Debt, rates and US-China risks in focus as IMF meets this week

Investors are turning their focus to the world's top finance ministers and central bankers assembling this week in Washington, looking for fresh clues on the outlook for everything from interest rates, banking stability and debt relief to oil prices and the testy US-China relationship.

Major central banks including the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank have signaled that stemming inflation remains their top priority despite last month's banking woes, which raised the specter of wider economic risks.

The April 10-16 Spring Meetings hosted by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank will also see a raft of related meetings, including the Group of 20 finance chiefs. The G-20 will face another contentious attempt to craft a joint statement on their prognosis for the global economy, after having failed to do so in February thanks to disputes over Russia's Ukraine invasion.


Cross-border banking woes and a deteriorating economic outlook had previously spurred greater cooperation at these gatherings. But "fragmentation" is now the order of the day, a key risk IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva warned about last week when she gave a gloomy global forecast. It's unclear whether the week will feature any tete-a-tete between top US and Chinese officials amid a broader breakdown in their bilateral engagement.

"The fundamental question is how can the IMF and World Bank operate effectively if the world's two largest economies don't really want to work together," said Josh Lipsky, a former IMF adviser who is now a senior director at the Atlantic Council.